The Hunt For Rob Roy

Rob Roy (Robert MacGregor, 1671-1734) bears a name that is extraordinarily well known internationally through the heroic images created for him by tradition, by Sir Walter Scott and by Hollywood, yet no scholarly biography of him has ever been written. Instead the tendency has been to leave him to hero-worshippers endlessly repeating old tales. This is the first life of Rob to written by an experienced historian, based on a full range of sources. The picture that emerges is one of a remarkable life - but not a heroic one. The picture of a man deeply wronged and oppressed, forced into outlawry, has to be modified by the clear evidence that he was only outlawed after undertaking a careful plan to swindle his creditors. The staunch Jacobite is revealed as a man who supplied intelligence to the government against them. The supposed warrior leader never fought in a battle, the reputed great duellist avoided violence whenever possible and is only known to have fought one duel - which he lost. Yet in some ways Rob remains an attractive figure. That he survived, in spite of the odds against him, is a remarkable tribute to his tenacity of both body and spirit - and to his ability to make pe